New York Times Gives Bob Woodward's Final Bush Book Starred Review

New York Times:

The Bob Woodward rollout is always strictly scripted. His books are "held back," meaning that no advance ­copies are available for reviewers and that pain-of-death secrecy vows are extracted from book review editors. His "bombshells," those fly-on-the-wall details from inside the power dome and classified memos impossible to obtain (for all except Woodward), are disclosed in multipart, front-page articles in The Washington Post, where for decades the author was an assistant managing editor. (He is now an associate editor.) Then there is the bump from exclusive interviews on "60 Minutes" followed by more televised amplification, an éclat that almost always results in a No. 1 best seller.

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[walk0nwalls]

A good and interesting book review.

[PT6]

It is TRULY SAD that we have had such a completely incapable man in the White House for 8 Years!

[Everybody Should Vote]

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[valleygent]

READ THIS BOOK...GEORGE W. BUSH IN ALL HIS DICTATORIAL SPLENDOR. Vote for democracy in November...Vote Obama.

[marymansour]

AMEN!

[demfriend]

I have long believed Bob Woodward knows where the sharks sleep as he has frequently slept there with them. Woodward has alwaysknown way too much about stuff to be someone who was an outsider who managed to find out things with the real work of a journalist­/reporter. He got lucky with "deep throat" or knew someone who knew something but still he got a break there and he milks it enough to get paid and be feared by many who know what he knows and they know he can use their names and exploit them too. I find it hard to believe that Bush/Cheney/Rove and the rest of the cronies have not had any idea of how much and what Woodward would write about them and include/disclose in his books as he sectioned them out for four books. SO Woodward has again slept with the sharks and has told the "last" book phase all he can about the "truth" and the administration. But this is until after next January when he comes out with the "real true story" he couldn't tell until after the Bush and CO left town as he feared for his life. You might just say Woodward has had this planned along with the administration all along and no one has been shocked by it and Bob is once again raking in the dough like he had to work for it.

[ILibertine]

“Bush’s leadership style bordered on the hurried,” he writes. “He wanted actions, solutions. Once on a course, he directed his energy at forging on, rarely looking back, scoffing at — even ridiculing — doubt and anything less than 100 percent commitment.”

I believe there is a broader moral here that explains what has happened to the economy as well as politics. It is my perception that management styles over the past couple decades, to increasing degree, reflect a similar attitude - get onboard and be a team player, no time for dissent. The skeptics or pragmatists are viewed as problem cases and decisions go forward based upon the consensus of everyone preserving their job rating.

This can explain the administration of the war, Microsoft Vista, that so many financial firms relentlessly pursued the short-term, and the general decline in aesthetic quality across society that limits any bland content to what can be squeezed between commercials - and certainly the politics of politics within the confines of the House and Senate. We've sacrified vision for expediency.

[Bond007]

Just remember people,, there are actually people who voted for Bush twice. Not once, but twice,,, these foolish voters are going to swamp us again at the polls this year. They overwhelm us every election year. Just watch, they are going to vote for the McBush ticket this year. We are in a deep funk America. It is going to take a miracle for America to recover. This is not a lie. Just watch!

[Eoin45]

Jill Abramson uses the review to excuse herself for not publishing an article by James Risen which was skeptical of Bush's WMD claims when she was Washington bureau chief for the Times. She claims there were too many credible accounts at the time. Well, baloney. I and all my friends, none of whom were in politics or on the staff of a newspaper, knew enough about the Bush cabal to know that they were not to be trusted. I'm getting damn sick and tired of the likes of Abramson and others attempting to justify the unjustifiable. The plain fact is that, because of her and other MSN journalist's failure to do due diligence, thousands are dead unnecessarily.

[LeftCoaster64]

Here, here, I completely agree. I have a B.A., no science degree, and have never held elective office, but even I knew that when the inspectors said they weren't finding any WMD that Bush was a damnable liar. They were on the ground with the best position to render judgement on that issue. Lest we forget, the Downing Street memos clearly indicate Bush was going to war no matter the facts. That the MSM uses all this bogus intelligence peddled by Bush as justification for their abject failure to report the truth is self-serving to say the least.

[FaceYourFears]

I just have one question for all the folks who voted for GWB.......­....WHY???­?????????

[Diogenis]

Whyyyyyyyy­yyyyyyyyyy­yyyyyyyyyy­yyyyyy????­? And who would want to buy the dang book.?? Whyyyyyy?

[ProfessorDuh]

Too bad it took so damn long for Woodward to resign as Bush court historian. At this late juncture, with the U.S just about wiped out by Bush's monumental incompetence and corruption, who cares?

[NewArtz]

The deference Woodward gave to President Bush in his earlier volumes gave the reporter greater access to the story, I'm sure. There was no way the American "public" could have made an informed decision on anything unless, like many, they themselves thought beyond their preconceived ideologies. What blinded America was Faulty Intelligence, not from the CIA, and not merely from the media. At the core was the faulty intelligence of the man elected by an electorate who shared this trait. Any fool can get close to the White House, (Sarah Palen has proven this point spectacularly). But it takes a lot of stupid votes to get the election close enough to steal. If we are too stupid to learn how stupid we've been, then no amount of "revelation" from the media will help us voters learn from our mistakes of our past.

[gifu]

You mean I have to be personally responsible for my thoughts decisions, and actions?? I thought I could just keep changing channels on my remote!!!!

[jlab]

What's the matter with these posts? Does everybody let their 4year olds write comments? Or are all these authored by George W. Bush with the help of an incomplete bag of Scrabble letters?

[Diogenis]

Say something intelligent.

[mespace]

This book appears to be a negative criticism of the Bush administration (I guess that's the only angle possible.) It seems like it would be in the interest of the NY Times to sort of at least validate the fact it places him in bad lighting. Otherwise we might think the NY Times was saying Woodward's opinion is wrong, Bush is actually a great guy. http://mespace.wordpress.com

[GeoLee]

I am sorry they are giving him any mention..after all some of his earlier books covered up things that if the electorate had known, maybe Kerry would have been President. He won't get any of mymoney for his way too late expose. Looking back, I am surprised he helped bring down Nixon.

[biased2]

If it's the NYT, it's a given, but if not obviously NYT, could HuffPo put a (reg.req.) on a story so we don't waste time with it?

[Eoin45]

Do your own work lazybones.

[Diogenis]

HuffPo obviously feels it is not necessary to....waste our time.